2 April 1963
Concert:
Azena Ballroom, White Lane, Gleadless, Sheffield, Yorkshire
Originally thought to have occurred on 12 February, this concert is now known to have taken place on this day. More info here.
"Peter Stringfellow, founder and owner of The Mojo Club, booked the Beatles - a band creating a stir on the music scene in Liverpool - originally to play his first music club and forerunner to The Mojo, The Black Cat Club (St. Aiden's Church Hall). In between Stringfellow booking the band and the night of the concert, The Beatles had their first number one with 'Please Please Me', and screaming, shouting, hair-pulling Beatlemania swept the country. The police suggested Stringfellow move the gig to accommodate the demand for tickets, so he booked the Azena Ballroom on the outskirts of Sheffield. Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, also upped the price from the first agreed price of £65 to £90, as, he said, they had a record in the charts now. (Stringfellow later managed to haggle him down to £85)...
Stringfellow had sold 2000 tickets for the show - the Azena's capacity was 500, and a further estimated 1000 people turned up on the night to try their luck. It was bedlam.
The Beatles also autographed the wall backstage at The Azena Ballroom. When the ballroom was converted into a supermarket years later (first Kwik Save, later on a Somerfield), it was rumoured that The Beatles' signatures still remained on a wall in the back of the supermarket.
Here are some more recollections of the Azena gig in Sheffield, as posted on a discussion board:
David Bowler: I was at the Azena for the beatles concert and I remember paying 6s 6d for a ticket on the black market outside, the original price was 5s 6d and someone opened the firedoor and hundreds poured in till the police restored order, I recall standing on a chair on a table. The Azena was called after the owners Arnold & Zena Fidler, Zena died this year (2003).
Timbuck: Yes the beatles did play at the azena, co's i was there, the gig was moved there after the Stringfellow Bro's found they were selling to many tickets and their place wasn't big enough...I think they got the Fab Four because they booked them just before they became famous, and the beatles honoured all bookings taken, and The Stringfellows got them for about £65 Quid.
My mate "John Bealy" was the singer in the support band at this gig and Paul Macartney borrowed his Bass players gear that night
later on that bass amp and speaker became mine.
From what i remember all the songs were "Chuck Berries" except for "Love me do".
But the Azena will always be the place for "Dave berry and the Cruisers" for me.
Tofty: I had the pleasure of being at their first performance at the Azena in Gleadless and I must say it was total chaos. People that had paid for tickets just couldn't get through the door. At the time I was working at Wilson Pecks who were the booking agents for the City Hall and I was fortunate enough to get a job as a programme seller when they appeared at the City Hall on the Roy Orbison concert the same year. I even got backstage and met them and Roy Orbison and still have the autographed progamme to this day.
crucible77: I used to work with a man nearly 20 years ago who was the drummer in the support band at this show "Mike Stone and the Aidens". He told me the story of how he remembered being sat backstage with John Lennon as he just discarded a Beatles Parlophone postcard on which he had written down the evenings setlist.
Luckily he picked up the card and kept it.
He told me he had played with a lot of bands in the 60s and kept the odd item.
As I collected anything Beatle related at the time I asked him to go through his box of stuff and sure enough one morning he brought it into work for me to see. Thankfully I got a photo copy of it (front and back) as well as a cutting from a newspaper for the show.
I remember him saying it was the first time it had been out for years and he was putting it back, so I guess he will have never have let it go. I don't know if he ever thought of it being valuable really."
Source: WogBlog
"crookesey: It was 'Love Me Do', (I think), and as I recall, from a conversation with Geoff, the fee was something in the order of £400. My mate Alan Walsh, a local DJ went to a party with them after the performance, I belive it was in Frecheville.
Switchblade: Sorry mate the fee was nothing like £400 only well estabilshed starts were on that kind of money.
Stringfellow booked them on the showing of 'Love Me Do' when they were an unknown band outside Liverpool in the UK. By the time they came to the Azena they'd had a major hit with 'Please Please Me'
Stringfellow came down to the skating ring at Attercliffe where we were appearing with a Liverpool group (band) called 'Lee Castle & The Barons' and told us about the forthcoming events, he then tossed up between our group and Mark Stone & The Adens, we lost.
£80/5 was the fee I can assure you which the beatles honoured although by that time they were commanding much higher fees."
Source: http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-536244.html
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